The present invention relates to a golf ball in which a material molded under heat from a rubber composition serves as a ball component. More specifically, the invention relates to a golf ball having an excellent manufacturability and endowed with a good durability and rebound.
Many golf balls that use rubber compositions containing polybutadiene polymerized with a rare-earth catalyst have hitherto been described in the art. Such golf balls are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,695,716, 6,712,715, 6,786,836, 6,921,345, 6,634,961 and 6,602,941 (Patent Documents 1 to 6). However, there remains room for further improvement in the rebound performance of such golf balls. Moreover, sufficient performance has yet to be achieved as well in terms of manufacturability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,314 (Patent Document 7) describes the use of an alkoxysilyl group-bearing compound-modified polybutadiene as a rubber composition for golf balls. JP-A 2007-222196 (Patent Document 8) discloses a polybutadiene obtained by additionally subjecting the modified polybutadiene of Patent Document 7 to a condensation reaction. However, in all of the above-mentioned prior art, there remains room for improvement in manufacturability and in the durability and rebound of the resulting golf balls.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,716
Patent Document 2: U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,715
Patent Document 3: U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,836
Patent Document 4: U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,345
Patent Document 5: U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,961
Patent Document 6: U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,941
Patent Document 7: U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,314
Patent Document 8: JP-A 2007-222196